NASA Engineer Speaks about Project Management for Space Flight Systems

Oct. 27, 2009 - PRLog -- Chicago, IL:  NASA Engineer Mr. Bryan Palaszewski currently directing research on high performance propellants and atmospheric entry and leading work related to human Mars entry, descent, and landing (EDL) spoke to the PMI Chicagoland project managers at a dinner meeting on October 14, 2009.

The dinner event was very engaging and eye opener for many of the project managers in attendance. Mr. Palaszewski’s lecture was funny, informative and fascinating. He described NASA’s project management methodology on “Space Vehicle Design and Development” in a very interesting way. We learnt that NASA’s projects go through a project life cycle similar to the project life cycle in other industries.

Mr. Palaszewski took us through a brief history of NASA’s major events including the Apollo’s Moon Landing in 1969 and also gave us a glimpse into what it takes to manage the creation of a space vehicle and each of its subsystems.   The presentation notes can be found at www.pmi-chicagoland.org

During Question Answer session, one of the project managers from the audience asked Mr. Palaszewski - “What happens to the Project Managers and engineers after the project is completed?” To which Mr. Palaszewski responded that NASA reallocates the human talent in other projects because it is very important to preserve the knowledge for future projects.

To the question - “What is NASA doing in the market place to improve the economy?”  Mr. Palaszewski answered that there are lot of technologies in the market place that comes either from NASA’s research or fostered with NASA funding.  More information on those NASA spin off projects can be found at www.nasawatch.com.  

Mr. Palaszewski also inspired the project managers to work on challenging projects. He mentioned that NASA is building the next fleet of vehicles to bring astronauts back to the moon, and possibly to Mars and beyond.

PMI Chicagoland Media Contact:

Arnab Dan / Marisol Zamora

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The PMI Chicagoland Chapter is a 4200-member component of the Project Management Institute, the leading professional association for project managers. The PMI Chicagoland Chapter is one of the largest chapters in PMI and the place to be for education, professional development, and camaraderie with like-minded professionals. To learn more about PMI Chicagoland Chapter, please visit the website at www.pmi-chicagoland.org